With its beautiful colours and deliciously varied textures, this is a lovely, layered dish of contrasting ingredients, ideally served on a big platter in the middle of the table as a starter or component of a main meal.

Preheat the oven to 190C/gas 5. Peel and deseed the squash, then cut into big chunks. Put into a roasting dish with the garlic and a few thyme sprigs, if using. Trickle over the 2 tablespoons of extra virgin oil, season with salt and pepper and toss well. Roast for 40–50 minutes, or until the squash is tender and starting to caramelise, giving it a stir halfway through cooking. Discard the garlic and thyme and leave to cool completely.

Put the roasted squash on individual plates or a large platter.

Dot the ricotta over the top. Tear the ham into shreds and scatter over the squash and ricotta. Tear the leaves from the rest of the thyme sprigs, if you have them, and scatter over the dish.

Season with pepper, salt and extra virgin olive oil. Finish with a squeeze of lemon juice, then serve.

Swaps

For a really quick, very different dish, replace the roasted squash with slices of ripe, juicy pear.